Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Position Cut by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. reduced its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 972 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 52,209 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,815 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,600,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $393,388,000 after acquiring an additional 257,471 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.70, for a total value of $672,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 93,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,892,190.20. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,567 shares of company stock valued at $2,812,024 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.53.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $128.33 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $41.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.21.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 9.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.59%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.